


Not As Rugged As He Looks

by anissa_qiaolian



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, Early 1990's, F/M, Gen, and tired of men underestimating her, may is tiny but mighty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25885099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anissa_qiaolian/pseuds/anissa_qiaolian
Summary: Senior Cadet John Garrett makes an impression on freshmen recruit Melinda May that he comes to regret
Relationships: John Garrett & Melinda May, Phil Coulson/Melinda May
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Not As Rugged As He Looks

**Author's Note:**

> so the finale was a thing that happened. um, anyway, i did enjoy seeing young garrett on the show and i especially love that it was bill paxton's son who played him. the philinda in this is mostly implied but still there bc who can resist some good ole academy philinda ;p anyway here's young garrett getting beat up by young may

June 13, 1990

All eyes are on Melinda May as she sizes up her opponent.

He’s bigger than her but that’s no surprise. She stands at a mere 5’3 and 103 pounds soaking wet. She is easily one of the smallest women at the Academy. Her opponent, the senior instructor John Garrett, stands confidently with his hands on his hips, not bothering to take his jacket off. He raises an eyebrow when she steps forward. He must think this fight will be over quickly.

And it will.

Melinda winks before balling up her fists and assuming a fighting stance. Garrett slinks over and loosely rolls his shoulders, smoothing his hand over his disgusting greaser-style hairdo.

“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll go easy on ya.”

He blows a kiss at her and Melinda suppresses a gag to smile serenely at him instead. “We’ll see about that, John.”

Garrett laughs. The rest of the room stays dead silent. Garrett wasn’t there that night at Victoria Hand’s party, when a drunk civilian tried to feel her up on the dance floor. Coulson, a dorky cadet from the Comms Academy had to hold her back with three other men to stop her from pummeling the guy’s face in after three hard punches.

Garrett lunges at her, using brute force to try to get her in the ribs. She blocks him easily. He aims for her shoulder next, then her legs, then her face, all to the same result. Frustrated, he tries grabbing onto a lock of hair, which swings waywardly around her neck as she stabilizes him in a chokehold and forces him to his knees.

She tsks and looks down at him mockingly. “Hair pulling, John? Really?”

He growls and tries to pull her down by her ankles; she kicks his back forward and locks his hands in place with a sneaker. She leans down and raises an eyebrow. “Well?”

Garrett sighs and taps the ground three times, a universal sign of surrender, and Melinda releases the hold.

“All right, all right. The hell are you bozos standing there looking at?”He proudly straightens his jacket and stands.

Melinda keeps her hands close to her sides in case he tries something funny. Men weren’t always gracious when it came to getting their asses handed to them.

“I can tell when I’ve been bested. Good game, cadet…?”

Garrett extended his hand, and Melinda glanced at him warily before giving it a strong shake. He tried to cover a wince as he pulled his hand back into his pocket.

“May. And I went easy on you.”

With a smirk Melinda picked up her water bottle and her athletic bag from a nearby bench. The cadets clear out of the room, the action over, and Melinda plans to do the same when Garrett blocks her path. She raises an eyebrow. “I said I went easy on you, John. You don’t want to fight me when I’m actually trying to hurt you.”

Something about Garrett’s expression now is different, a kind of nervous energy that wasn’t there before. Melinda smiled internally. He’s afraid of her already.

Perfect.

“Look, Cadet May, I don’t wanna bother you or nothin’ but I was wondering if -”

“I’m not having a drink with you.”

“I was wonderin’ if you could help me teach the class next week? Your fightin', it’s impressive, and I think it’d be good for the ladies of SHIELD to have someone to look up to. Metaphorically, of course.”

Melinda was so surprised by Garrett’s offer she forgot to roll her eyes at the last bit of what he said. A senior cadet, one who not five minutes ago had cast her off as a no one, was offering a fresh recruit a position as an instructor.

“I won’t go easy on you,” she warned him. “Or any idiots who are just like you, wondering what a woman like me is even doing here when I can kick every one of your asses from here to Easter Sunday.”

"I'm not countin' on it, sw - Cadet May. I'm not countin' on it at all." Garrett smiled excitedly and for once, it didn't creep her the hell out. She sighed.

“Fine. But only in classes after 7:00. I have to help Coulson ace his combat exams this quarter.”

Coulson. That kid was hopeless. And a total dork. She was not enjoying their lessons at all, no matter how many times Vic raised her eyebrows whenever she saw them together.

“Don’t wait up.”

She brushed past Garrett without a glance, not anxious at all that she was bound to be late for her session with the above mentioned dork. Nope, she was not anxious at all.

Any cadet she pushed out of the way as she brusquely made her way across campus was purely coincidental.


End file.
